yes, we do pray for each other in every way we can (phone, text, email and even chat!) and it’s as powerful. i cried when i read the prayer she wrote for me:

Lord I pray for Ate Elinore, give her strength that she need and comfort her through Your word, that she will only focus on you and not on earthly things that the enemy is offering. Strengthen her cords and whatever (other people) have talked about against her, even gossips, You will wipe them out because You are powerful enough to turn things for good in behalf of Ate Elinore. I pray for double shield even to her soul, keep her away from harm and troubles because she is holy in Your sight. Lord send Your angels to cover her and defend her from them that in the end, You will be glorified over her life because she stands in Your word. Lord, give her the spirit of humility, spirit of kindness as what Christ did when He was persecuted. I pray for boldness and courage in relating to these people. Thank you Lord for this confidence in You and courage to face these troubles. Lord our peace – perfect peace is in You alone…In Jesus name AMEN!

Indeed, the Spirit of God leads us even if we don’t really know the whys and the hows.

Cha, thank you for sharing this burden with me. I thank God that you are my friend.

Sorry if I wasn’t able to write for a while. It’s been busy here since
my official training started the last 2 weeks. Work is good, I
couldn’t complain about anything. Everyone here had been nice and
accomodating and the people in my team are  probably some of the best
that our company has, and working side-by-side with them has really
sharpened my skills even more. With just over a month of learning from
them, I feel like I’ve grown into a pro already and is ready to take
on whatever challenge I would have when I return back home. I’m
excited!

I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who has been praying
for me while I am here. You may not know it but your prayers are being
felt tremendously. There had been rough times during my first couple
of weeks but the thought of people praying for me back there has
encouraged me over and over and has strengthened me to keep on moving
forward to discovering God’s plan for me at this time. I must admit
that there had been moments, at first, when I had probably annoyed God
with all my grumbling. I keep asking why I had to be here, when I
didn’t want to be here, I never prayed to be here nor even thought of
going here. As many of you may have known, America is probably the
last place I would ever think of being at. But God, in His wisdom,
just knew exactly where to bring me. Of course I still don’t know the
“big picture” of God’s plan but I am learning to embrace it, or
atleast I’m trying to.

Morning and night, I drag myself to reading my Bible and spending time
alone with God. I didn’t want to (it’s cold and all you want to do is
cover up in your bed!) but I know that I have no choice. If I don’t
stay on the Word, then there’s a bigger possibility that I’m really
gonna miss God’s will. I would just imagine God scratching His head
thinking, “I spent literally thousands of dollars to bring you to a
place where I want you to learn from Me and you just missed it….”
And that thought is enough to scare the heck out of me.

That doesn’t mean though, that I never made any bad decisions at
first. I have made alot of bad choices here. How I wish I could take
them back, but they are past now and no matter what I do, I already
lost those opportunities and I reaped the consequences of those bad
choices. Remember the story of how shepherds sometimes has to break
the leg of a sheep that always strays alot? They do it so that the
sheep doesn’t end up killing itself by all its straying. At that time,
I felt God was breaking something in me, so He can carry me in His
arms and take me to where He wants me to go. I had to learn that the
hard way.

Thank God that His mercy is new every morning! I wake up everyday and
all that I say to myself is that I will choose God’s ways at every
opportunity. Things started getting alot better (I don’t get too
lonely anymore as I used to – ask Charissa how much I have complained
- you won’t believe it!), I am still where I don’t want to be, but I
believe that God was teaching me to find joy whether I am where I want
to be or not. I eventually attended church here (after missing it a
couple of Sundays since I couldn’t find a church to attend at) was
able to go to a couple of Christian concerts that really ministered to
me. God was restorying the joy I had before I came here. It’s amazing!
I never thought I could bounce back that quickly. Nothing is
impossible for God if you let Him do His thing in your life!

I miss everyone at home and it’s such a drag that days past me by here
without having someone to share my heart out. I miss going to
Starbucks or Kopi Roti or eating at Ate Kathy’s house or just meeting
up randomly for dinner or to talk or something. I couldn’t call anyone
here and just say, “hey, let’s have coffee” or “do you want to have
dinner or watch movie?” and stuffs. people here are workaholics! you
can’t ask them to do anything after work hours coz they just go home!

So last week, I attended another Christian concert by myself (I need
to have a social life too, right?) Little did I know that God was
about to answer my prayer that night. I had been asking God for the
longest time to give me friends here that I could connect with. Well,
one cold night as I was standing outside the club where the concert
will be held, I got into a conversation with a girl in front of me,
she looked alone too so we started chatting while waiting in line for
the door to open. As we waited outside, I probably have had shared my
whole life story as a Christian to her and most of my testimonies with
my walk with God. It was refreshing! What Paul said in Philemon is so
true – that we should be active in sharing our faith, so that we will
have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. As I
was sharing things to her, it made me look back and remember God’s
faithfulness over my life and how blessed I have been and still am. I
began appreciating what God was doing for me and thanking Him even,
for the opportunity to be in this place where I am now.

Anyway, so the club opened and she asked me if I wanted to sit with
her (and eventually her friends) and I was like “oh yeah!” We waited
for a couple of minutes and then her friends arrived. They are as cool
as this girl too and we had SO MUCH FUN in the concert! They are crazy
people (probably as crazy as me!) And I can tell that these 2 girls
(another guy was with us who is the brother of one of the girls) just
loves the Lord so much just by the kindness they’ve shown me! I’ve
never felt so welcomed my whole time here until I met them! It was
truly humbling.

After the show (which was like 12:30AM) we went over to the bands and
asked for their authographs (I used to only hear these bands on the
radio and I was able to shake hands with them and chat with them – so
cool!) After all that, we all were ready to go home so we walked
outside and I was about to turn to my street and start walking about 9
blocks to my apartment (20 mins walk on -8°C, I’d be frozen by the
time I reach home) when Katie (the girl I met on the line) and
Kiersten (her best friend that we waited for) told me that they are
driving me home. They just can’t stop being WAY too nice!

Yesterday, they picked me up in my apartment and drove me to their
church (something like a YP/Youth service – they call it The Upper
Room) and describing it as a great church would be an understatement, really! Their church is excellent, youthful, relevant, hip, and they really want to pursue God. I really had a great time during the service and it kinda felt
like I’m in our youth service back in Manila. After that, we drove to
a mall in Edina and had dinner. They were just super nice that I
couldn’t help but pay for our dinner that evening (thank God for my
company Amex credit card!) as my way of thanking them. Then they drove
me back to my apartment (even if it was like 30mins drive and so out
of their ways) I’ve never had such a good time in a while!

I invited them next weekend for a Pinoy style dinner and they said
they’re up to it (lumpiang shanghai, adobo, escabeche, sinigang and
lomi) so I’m looking forward to next weekend!

Growing up as a Christian, I realized that most of the time, when God
wants to teach me very important lessons, He brings people in my life,
where I could learn His lessons from. And I guess God was letting me
know that no matter how insignificant or silly sometimes the things I
prayed for (like having new friends to talk to or hang out) – I can
have the confidence in approaching Him, that if I ask anything
according to His will, He hears me. And if I know that He hears me -
with whatever I ask – I know that I have what I asked of Him. (Ok, now
this is funny: this was the same verse that I read this morning when I
did my devotion on 1 John 5:13-15!)

Anyway, this is probably one of the longest letter you’ve read in your
entire life…sorry ^_^

We have a big training week this week. Please keep praying for me!

(missing you all but finally having fun here!)

Elinore

–
“coz yesterday is history
and history is miles away”

 anyway, here’s the email:

 _________________________

hey!
 
no word from michael and janet still…
 
guess what? i saw Downhere, Matthew West and Barlow Girl at a club gig last night! they are having their “Do Not Conform” tour and just found out about it yesterday (which was the same day as the gig!) i stood outside the door for about an hour and it was just, oh boy! cold cold cold! but it was all worth the wait! and i got the tix for $10 instead of $15  and i was 10 feet from the stage. how cool is that?!
 
all i can say is that they are AWESOME!
 
Downhere rocks, they totally do! and they are such a total performer! they actually made the crowd sing “Rockstars need money, rock stars can’t live on baloney sandwich, rockstars need money and it comes from you and you and you and you and you” and they are totally serious about it! so hilarious!

Matthew West is such a sweet guy! and he rocks too! something like an older brother singing his heart out for people to know how God has immensely and completely changed his world by that one benny hinn tv show when he was 13 and how humbled he is by how God is using him now to sing music for Him.
 
of course the crowd favorite was Barlow Girl. i wasn’t really that much into them, i do have their first cd and except for “Harder than the First Time”, i thought they are just way too pop for me. well, i guess u could say that they were really good at changing my mind. these girls are serious about God and they are talented and they are outspoken about their faith and conviction and they led the crowd to an awesome praise and worship time. what i loved about their performance was at the end of their last song, they led the crowd to sing “How great is our God…” and the lights went off as the crowd was still worshipping and they exited,  as if saying, the glory is not ours, but God’s. i think, it takes alot of humility to do that knowing how everyone went out that night just to see them and they are saying, hey, we’re not going out here to perform for you, we’re here because this is what God has called us to do, whether you come see us perform or not. i think God honors a commitment like that.
 
i would have wanted to go over and ask the club if i can have them plug “The Edge Radio” or something, but i didnt have alot of time to prepare.
 
next week, there’s gonna be Kutless, Manafest, Grit and some other awesome bands. maybe we can cook up something for “The Edge…” while i’m here???
 
check out the club website www.club3degrees.com and let me know what you think?
 
(still totally elated) Elinore

ps. i wasn’t able to go to Jars of Clay “Good Monsters” concert here last week but i did get their album. go buy yourself one! it’s the soundtrack of my life while i’m here stucked in Minnesota (i guess i’m starting to love it here?)

i wish you would tell me.

My flight has been confirmed. So that’s gonna be Sept. 30 MNL-NRT-MSP and Dec. 10 MSP-NRT-MNL. Still working on getting a friend to meet me in Narita even only for 2 hrs layover. Then the 12 hr flight to Minneapolis.

I hope the friends I invited to come see me will really come. I got a couple of people from Dallas, my sister and aunt from Los Angeles and Vallejo, D from NY! and some people from Minneapolis (officemates, bosses, new friends) I’m starting to get excited!

Meanwhile, we’ve (well technically I myself and my admin boss) been doing alot of preps for my upcoming training. I am doing a company wide user-experience survey this whole week and I can’t wait to turn over the report I’m working on based on the survey. The information I will gather there will be very very critical for the upcoming implementation.

I’m still inaccessible via Yahoo Messenger, MSN will have to do for now Again, email me if you want to reach me online at work!

Oh hey! It’s my mom’s birthday on the 9th! I know already what to get her for her birthday, it’ll just have to wait awhile ’til my finances stabilize again.

…I’ve been dreaming about iPod Nano

You know what they say. No Music, No Life!

I should keep in mind what Joel Osteen said, God blesses a life that is balanced. Anything excessive is the devil’s way to keep us off-track from the promises of God. Therefore, I must keep my eyes solely in God and follow hard after Him!

So what’s happening at work so far? It’s been an exciting time as the week ended. We were able to list in details the things that I am tasked to do. Let me just tell you that, I have a really funky administrative (lady) boss on-site in our MNL office and a great sounding (and I’m almost sure he really is) functional boss in MSP. I think it’s gonna be really, really exciting working with these 2 exceptional people! I hope I can meet most (if not all) of their expections of me.

Ok, some update on the upcoming US trip. I’ll defintely be in MSP between Oct. 2 to Dec. 16. I still don’t know much of the details like where will I be staying, my ETD/ETA, itinerary, etc. I still need to get a new luggage as my old one has been de-commissioned already. On top of that, alot of other things to think of and ponder on, like my moving out of my apartment, find a new place I can move into when I get back in December (by that time I already missed our Operations Center launch and our MNL Christmas party)

aish…!

I have to pause at this point, I am sleepy beyond my body can take anymore. I’ll talk more later, when I get some physical rest that I fully deserve.

Hanging out with friends is always a blast. Spending dinners with family is even better! Together, they make my life easy

There’s not much happening at work really. I’ve just been doing ALOT of reading and correspondence with my new boss (who sounded really nice and accomodating)

By the way, I finally got my US visa. They are booking my flight and arranging my accomodation now. I will be staying in Minneapolis for approximately 2 1/2 months which was unexpected. I was already planning on going to Boracay for our church retreat this coming November and now I really feel bad that I can’t get to go. I bet I will be missing alot of parties too ’til I come back mid-December, another reason to feel bad as well.

Anyway, this is life for now.

Lord, teach me to embrace where You are leading me at this time without grumbling and complaining!

PS. 1 I still don’t have any music at work, which sucks! If you know me, my life at work simply revolves around the music that I listen to while I tinker on the computer for more than 8 hrs daily….it’s so unimaginable! I already miss Pizzicato Five!

PS. 2 I will be moving out of my apartment before I leave for the US end of September

PS. 3 Found out that Berlitz is only a corner away from the new office, will be checking out the language courses they are offering. I am still determined to continue with my Korean studies (when I get back that is)

PS. 4 I will be unavailable in Yahoo Messenger at work from now on. If you wish to contact me, I am online in MSN (email me if you want to add me to your list)

Let’s see. I had been spending alot of time at home with my family as I told myself I would. I went to the NBI last Tuesday to get my clearance for local employment but the releasing would be 3 days after. So I will go there tomorrow to pick it up and finally take it off my “requirements list.” In the afternoon, I went to work to help with the transition of the systems and processes I was in-charge with. Evening we went to Snackaroo, this cheap-but-delicious steak house in Judge Jimenes, near Timog. It was my turn to treat my officemates out so I brought them there. Unfortunately we arrived during their super peak hours, our steak were served about 45mins after (I was close to getting disappointed and annoyed already…) Anyway, the steak made up for it so we eventually decided our waiting was worth it. Jenny came by to hang out with us since she knew most of my officemates already.

Charissa called me on the phone at 2am. I was barely awake when I was talking to her…

NOTE:
Well, to everyone’s information, August 15 is a very significant date to me for three very, very, very important reasons:

1. It’s payday (seriously)
2. It’s the first death anniversary of a dear and beloved friend.
3. It’s also our friendship’s first anniversary (moi, Charissa and Jenny) and it started out because of our friend who passed away. Though we lost a very good friend, we gained new relationships in return.

 Wednesday, I went to deposit some money at the bank, met Ate Bing at Bench FIX-ABS CBN, had my hair done (so pretty!), coordinated the night’s event for Mother Weng’s birthday and told everyone we’ll be eating at my uber-favorite Korean restaurant, Dona Dona in Pearl Drive.

Present in the event are the following: moi, Ate Bing, Dr. Lenn, Fides, the celebrant Mother Weng, Sherwin (aka Sioti ng Bayan), followed by Jenny and lastly Father Rodel (don’t be fooled, he is no priest ^_^)

I can only say one thing about Korean food: MASHITA! Whether in Seoul or in Manila, Korean food has never disappointed me. Our menu for that night consisted of two orders of the following: Samgyupsal, Kimpap, Bibimbap, Chap Jae, a spicy Chi gae (Dr. Lenn’s favorite) roasted chicken topped with sesame seed, bottomless cold barley and about 15 different side dishes and lots and lots of Kuchujang sauce. Our table for 8 almost ran out of space for all our food! It was overflowing! I taught everyone how to eat Samgyupsal and they all loved it. I also shared one of my little secret…Kuchujang sauce and Kim (korean rice) YUuuummm…I scooped some of the red, scary sauce and spoonful of rice and told Jenny to eat and try it. At first, boy she was hesitant, but after so much persuasion, she grabbed the spooned and ate it and then she got convinced after I’m telling you, you guys have to try that!

Here are some pics:

Sherwin and I on his new phone camera

Pretty, pretty girls…aren’t we?

Sherwin, Jenny and I

Another cute collage courtesy of Dr. Lenn

Well, today I went to the dermatologist and in the evening met up with Ate Kathy, Kuya Dan, Charissa and Lyzel at one of our favorite gourmet restaurant  – The Chocolate Kiss – in Roces Ave. I was gonna meet Kathy Jane for One2One also that night and just decided to meet at the same restaurant with the rest.

Now I’m here at my parent’s house and awake again…will continue watching the phenomenon Korean drama “My Girl” after I log off from here.

Good night!

I went home to my parent’s house Friday night and had been here til now. Last Saturday, my mom wanted the whole family to go out for dinner and she suggested that we go to the same seafoods restaurant we go to all the time. I told my mom we should try something new and suggested the Chinese restaurant in Binondo (a small China-town) since I got to try it before when my boss treated us for dinner too a couple of days ago. I don’t know exactly where the place was though, so when we got to the area, we were circling for about 20mins. trying to find where Wai Ying is. After asking around a few times, we finally got there. But there was no table to fit 8 & 1/4 people (well, technically, 8 adults and my baby niece) I ordered for everyone since I had already mastered the menu. We all had our fill The food was so much better than alot of chinese fast-food stores everywhere. The place also reminded me of the restaurants in Hong Kong, they are mostly alike everywhere.

Sunday, I went early to church because no one was available to work on the powerpoint presentation. I got there at 8:15am and worked on the presentation for 45mins what everyone would normally do in 2 hrs or so every Saturday. It was a bit of a challenge, but a nice disruption of our careful routine. I liked the pressure.

I went back to my apartment after church and fell asleep. I was supposed to go back to my parent’s house but my bed looked so tempting and I hardly had sleep because my niece wouldn’t let anyone in my parent’s house get a decent sleep at night. I woke up about 3 hrs after and headed home. I stopped by the mall to buy two pairs of jeans and two pairs of shoes, met my parents, my sister and my niece at the mall, stopped by at a grill to buy dinner and take it home.

I had my first decent sleep last night. My niece was very cooperative. So now I’m up and about. I will go to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to get a clearance I need to submit on my first day at the new office.

Oh, I forgot, this morning, some annoying guy kept calling my phone, the first time I lost my temper so early. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t read your Bible and pray first thing when you wake up. To think that last Sunday’s preaching was about patience…I had to ask God to forgive me for easily losing my temper.

Thank God that He is merciful and kind.
SLOW TO ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS.